Controlled squeegee apparatus

ABSTRACT

The object of the present invention is to provide means for instantaneous control, and to change the sealant pattern length when applying asphalt sealant material. This is accomplished through integrating controlled actuated wings into a squeegee design, with an additional rotary actuator for additional rotation control. 
     The present invention consists of a base mounting frame with means of mounting the apparatus to road maintenance machinery, a main squeegee frame, a squeegee wing actuator arrangement, squeegee blades, means of attaching the squeegee blade to the apparatus, and a rotary actuator attached to the main frame for additional control.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims the benefits of my earlier filed provisional application # U.S. 61/200,901

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of Invention

The present invention relates to asphalt sealant equipment, particularly to an apparatus for the distribution and leveling of asphalt sealant material upon roadway surfaces, and even more particularly to a maneuverable squeegee apparatus, with actuated rotating ends, to be mounted and used with asphalt sealant equipment in order to control the sealant material being applied.

2. Description of Related Art

Asphalt sealant material is a unique substance. When applying this viscous and sticky material to road surfaces, the application faces various difficulties. The more problematic difficulties include the nature of the material to build up and controlling the direction and placement of the material. Prior art has addressed these difficulties with the use of a squeegee apparatus, although have done so in an out dated fashion.

Prior art introduced the idea of a squeegee with pivoting end bars/wings to be integrated with road maintenance equipment. The pivoting wings can be fully extended to elongate the total length of the squeegee and they can also be adjusted at an angle, through locking bars, in order to shorten the total squeegee length and/or shift the position of the material.

The locking bar mechanism has very limited control over the material. The user must pre-set the desired angle before they operate the machine. If the user needs to change the angle of the wings while operating, they must stop the machine, manually change the angle, and then resume operation.

The present invention introduces controlled actuated wings to instantaneously shift the placement of the material, change the length of the material pattern, and provide enhanced control of the dispersed sealant material, while the user is operating the machine.

The present invention must be integrated into a road maintenance machine. The road maintenance machine will serve as a source to power and control for present invention. The present invention also incorporates a rotary actuator to rotate the main squeegee frame for additional manipulation.

SUMMARY

The object of the present invention is to provide means for instantaneous control and to change the sealant pattern length when applying asphalt sealant material. This is accomplished through integrating controlled actuated wings into a squeegee design, with an additional rotary actuator for additional rotation control.

The present invention consists of a base mounting frame with means of mounting the apparatus to road maintenance machinery, a main squeegee frame, a squeegee wing actuator arrangement, squeegee blades, means of attaching the squeegee blade to the apparatus, and a rotary actuator attached to the main frame for additional control.

DESCRIPTION OF FIGURES

FIG. 1 shows an angled 3 d view of the squeegee apparatus with wings at a 45 degree angle.

FIG. 2 is an exploded view of the base mounting frame and rotating frame.

FIG. 3 is a top view of the main squeegee frame.

FIG. 4 and FIG. 5 show the squeegee wing actuator arrangement.

FIG. 6 shows an example of how the apparatus mounts to a sealant machine and receives power.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The present invention can be broken up into 4 main sections: a base mounting frame, a rotating frame, a squeegee main frame, and a squeegee wing actuator arrangement. Refer to FIG. 2. The base mounting frame serves as means for mounting the rotary actuator (7) and for mounting the squeegee apparatus to the rear of an asphalt sealant machine. The rotary actuator (7) provides additional control of the asphalt sealant material. The base mounting frame has a large 90 degree angle piece (1) with a center-hole large enough in diameter for a rotary actuator and serves as means to mount the rotary actuator. Mounting brackets (2) are attached at the ends of the angled piece (1), consist of 2 vertical slots for height variation (3), and serve as means to attach the squeegee apparatus to the back of an asphalt sealant machine.

Refer to FIG. 2. The rotating frame serves as means to connect the squeegee main frame to the rotary actuator and comprises of a rectangular channel piece (6) to act as a base to attach to the squeegee main frame; attached to the rectangular channel piece is a piece (5) for attaching the rotary actuator, which consists of a specific hole pattern as the rotary actuator; and attached on top of the hole patterned piece (5) is a rectangular shim (4) with a center-hole for smooth rotation of the rotating frame. The rotary actuator shall be sized accordingly to specific applications in relation to the application's weight and torque requirements and shall receive power from the asphalt sealant machine it is mounted to. FIG. 6 shows an example of mounting the apparatus and power lines (31) to the apparatus from a sealant machine.

Refer to FIG. 3. The main squeegee frame attaches to the base mounting frame and consists of means for attaching squeegee blades and the squeegee wing actuator arrangement. The main squeegee frame consists of two long pieces of angle iron for the front (1F) and rear (1R) squeegees and brackets for attaching the two pieces together (2). Both angle iron pieces have linearly spaced holes for attaching the squeegee blades. The ends (6) of the rear angle iron piece are reinforced for attaching the squeegee wing actuator arrangement. The squeegee blade (3) is secured using heavy industrial nuts and bolts (5) and is placed between the squeegee angle iron pieces (1F, 1R) and flat rectangular reinforcing pieces (4). Both rectangular reinforcing pieces have linearly spaced holes for attaching the squeegee blades.

Refer to FIG. 4. The squeegee wing actuator arrangement serves as means for rotating the squeegee wings and comprises of a linear actuator and rotation piece. The linear actuator (10) should be sized accordingly for the specific application and shall receive power from the sealant machine the squeegee apparatus is mounted to. One end of the linear actuator connects to the squeegee main frame via a mounting bracket (6), and the opposite end attaches to the rotating wing piece (11).

Refer to FIG. 5. The rotating wing piece consists of a custom ram bracket (20), a cylindrical spacer (21), a circular disk (22), wing attachments (24), and means for attaching to the squeegee main frame (23). The ram bracket (20) translates the linear actuator motion to angular rotation and connects to a circular disk (22) via spacing cylinder (21). The squeegee wing (24) attaches to the circular disk (22). The rotating wing piece is then mounted to the squeegee main frame via a secured rod (23) and the linear actuator. Each piece within the rotating wing piece is position to provide 90 degrees of wing rotation. The squeegee wing comprises of a similar assembly as the squeegee main frame. The squeegee blade is secured using heavy industrial bolts (25) and is placed between an angle iron piece (24) and a flat rectangular reinforcing piece (26). 

1. (canceled)
 2. A road-surfacing squeegee apparatus for the variable distribution and leveling of road surfacing material, to be mounted to a road-surface machine in such a way that the squeegee apparatus can trail the road-surfacing machine in order to instantaneously control, distribute and level the road surfacing material being applied as a top coat for protecting and sealing a road surface, comprising: a said main frame, a said rotating squeegee frame, and one or more pivoting squeegee wing actuator arrangement(s); the assembly includes a hydraulic rotary actuator to rotate the said rotating squeegee frame and one or more linear hydraulic actuator(s) to rotate one or more pivoting squeegee wing(s).
 3. A said main frame as in claim 2, further comprising: a rigid metal structure to serve as means for mounting the hydraulic rotary actuator and to serve as means to attach to a road-surface machine.
 4. A hydraulic rotary actuator as in claim 3, wherein: the hydraulic rotary actuator mounts to the said main frame and the output shaft of the hydraulic rotary actuator is fixed to a said pivoting point of the said rotating squeegee frame; the hydraulic rotary actuator provides the operator instantaneous rotation of the said rotating squeegee frame.
 5. A rotating squeegee frame as in claim 4, further comprising: a rigid metal structure to rotate with the output shaft of the hydraulic rotary actuator; means to fasten squeegee material; and means to attach one or more pivoting squeegee wing actuator arrangement(s).
 6. One or more squeegee wing actuator arrangement(s) as in claim 5, further comprising: a linear hydraulic actuator; a rigid metal structure to serve as means for fastening squeegee material; means to pivotally attach to the said rotating squeegee frame; a ram bracket to be to be rigidly fixed to the rigid metal structure of the pivoting squeegee wing actuator arrangement and to be pivotally fixed to the end of the hydraulic linear actuator; the ram bracket translates the linear motion of the hydraulic linear actuator to the rotational motion of the pivoting squeegee end.
 7. One or more linear hydraulic actuators as in claim 6, wherein: One end of the linear hydraulic actuator(s) is pivotally fixed to the said rotating squeegee frame; the opposite end(s) of the hydraulic actuator(s) are pivotally fixed to the ram bracket of the squeegee wing actuator arrangement; the linear hydraulic actuator(s) provide(s) the operator instantaneous rotation of the pivoting squeegee ends.
 8. A hydraulic rotary actuator as in claim 2, wherein: the hydraulic rotary actuator mounts to the said main frame and the output shaft of the hydraulic rotary actuator is fixed to a said pivoting point of the said rotating squeegee frame; the hydraulic rotary actuator provides the operator instantaneous rotation of the said rotating squeegee frame.
 9. A rotating squeegee frame as in claim 2, further comprising: a rigid metal structure to rotate with the output shaft of the hydraulic rotary actuator; means to fasten squeegee material; and means to attach one or more pivoting squeegee wing actuator arrangement(s).
 10. One or more squeegee wing actuator arrangement(s) as in claim 2, further comprising: a linear hydraulic actuator; a rigid metal structure to serve as means for fastening squeegee material; means to pivotally attach to the said rotating squeegee frame; a ram bracket to be to be rigidly fixed to the rigid metal structure of the pivoting squeegee wing actuator arrangement and to be pivotally fixed to the end of the hydraulic linear actuator; the ram bracket translates the linear motion of the hydraulic linear actuator to the rotational motion of the pivoting squeegee end.
 11. One or more linear hydraulic actuators as in claim 2, wherein: One end of the linear hydraulic actuator(s) is pivotally fixed to the said rotating squeegee frame; the opposite end(s) of the hydraulic actuator(s) are pivotally fixed to the ram bracket of the squeegee wing actuator arrangement; the linear hydraulic actuator(s) provide(s) the operator instantaneous rotation of the pivoting squeegee ends. 